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The Baltics: from Nation States to Member States

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The Baltics: from Nation States to Member States Occasional Paper February 2006 n°62 Kestutis Paulauskas The Baltics: from nation states to member states published by the European Union Institute for Security Studies 43 avenue du Président Wilson F-75775 Paris cedex 16 phone: + 33 (0) 1 56 89 19 30 fax: + 33 (0) 1 56 89 19 31 e-mail: [email protected] www.iss-eu.org In January 2002 the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) was created as a Paris- based autonomous agency of the European Union. Following an EU Council Joint Action of 20 July 2001, it is now an integral part of the new structures that will support the fur- ther development of the CFSP/ESDP. The Institute’s core mission is to provide analyses and recommendations that can be of use and relevance to the formulation of EU policies. In carrying out that mission, it also acts as an interface between experts and decision-mak- ers at all levels. Occasional Papers are essays or reports that the Institute considers should be made avail- able as a contribution to the debate on topical issues relevant to European security. They may be based on work carried out by researchers granted awards by the EUISS, on contri- butions prepared by external experts, and on collective research projects or other activities organised by (or with the support of) the Institute. They reflect the views of their authors, not those of the Institute. Publication of Occasional Papers will be announced in the EUISS Newsletter and they will be available on request in the language - either English or French - used by authors. They will also be accessible via the Institute’s website: www.iss-eu.org. The European Union Institute for Security Studies Paris Director: Nicole Gnesotto © EU Institute for Security Studies 2006. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the EU Institute for Security Studies. ISBN 92-9198-089-7 ISSN 1608-5000 Published by the EU Institute for Security Studies and printed in Condé-sur-Noireau (France) by Corlet Imprimeur, Graphic design by Claire Mabille (Paris) Occasional Paper February 2006 n°62 Kestutis Paulauskas The Baltics: from nation states to member states The author is Head of the Defence Policy Section of the Defence Policy and Planning Department at the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania. He is also a Ph.D candidate at the University of Vilnius. He was a visiting fellow at the EU Institute for Security Studies from April to June 2005. All the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author and do not represent the official position of the Lithuanian government. 1 Contents Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 A modus vivendi with Russia 7 2.1 The invariable geometry 7 2.2 The ‘high politics’ of low stakes 9 2.3 The ‘low politics’ of high tensions 11 3 The Baltic States in the Europe of regions 21 3.1 The myth of Baltic unity 21 3.2 Regional cooperation: churning substance out of acronyms 23 3.3 Making a difference in the European neighbourhood 26 4 The Euro-Atlantic dilemma 29 4.1 The puzzle of the strategic triangle 29 4.2 Reappraising the CFSP 31 4.3 Adding value to the ESDP 34 5 Conclusions 39 5.1 Rethinking Russia: building confidence into an awkward relationship 39 5.2 Sorting out priorities of regional cooperation 40 5.3 Becoming normal Europeans 41 a Annex 43 Abbreviations 43 Acknowledgements The author would like to thank those who granted him interviews in Brussels in May 2005: in particular, the EU officials Carl Hallergard, Andreas Herdina, Jukka Leskelä, Gerhard Lohan and Kees Van Rij, the MEPs Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Vytautas Landsbergis, Ambassador Imants Lieìis, the Permanent Representative of Latvia to the EU, Ambassador Rytis Martikonis, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU, and his team, and Hestrid Tedder, the Estonian Attaché for ESDP. I want to thank all my colleagues at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University who took the time to read and comment on the earlier draft of this paper, in particular Raimundas Lopata, Vaidotas Urbelis, Nortautas Statkus and Gediminas Vitkus, as well as Robertas Šapronas, the Defence Advisor of the Lithuanian Permanent Delegation to NATO. I would also like to thank all the staff and research fellows at the EU-ISS for providing a friendly and comfortable working atmosphere. I feel especially grateful to Dov Lynch and Judy Batt for their encouragement, invaluable tutorship and insightful suggestions. 2 Summary The Baltics: from nation states to member states In 2004, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania finally attained their long-standing strategic goals and became members of both the European Union and NATO. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges the Baltic governments face after their nation states became member states. In the first section of the paper, the author argues that the era of ‘high politics’ in the ever-complicated saga of Baltic-Russian relations is over. However, it appears likely that tensions will persist in ‘low politics’ and the issues of the Russian minorities in Latvia and Estonia, transit to the Kaliningrad region, and Russian energy policy top the agenda. In the second section, the author contends that the importance and relevance of different regional cooperation frameworks, in which the Baltic States were actively engaged prior to the double enlargement, is changing. The Baltic governments are well placed to make a positive impact on the European Neighbourhood Policy. The third section of the paper explores the reasons behind the pro-American sentiments of the Baltic political elites, while maintaining that they have (misguidedly) paid too little attention to the develop- ment of CFSP. The author makes the case that a stronger EU security and defence role is very much in the interest of the Baltic States. The paper concludes with an analysis of policy implications for the Baltic govern- ments. The author maintains that the Baltic States need to become pragmatic in their daily business with Russia and more flexible within the EU about their policies towards Russia, while at the same time remaining assertive with regard to their long-term inter- est in seeing Russia become a normal democracy. The author highlights the need for the Baltic governments to prioritise among the plethora of organisations in the Baltic Sea region by strengthening ties with the Nordic capitals and suggesting ways to ‘make a dif- ference’ in the Eastern neighbourhood. Finally, the author exhorts Riga, Tallinn and Vil- nius to reappraise their approach towards CFSP and ESDP, to internalise the EU in their strategic thinking and to become normal and credible member states instead of ‘special cases’. 3 1 Introduction he euphoria that initially accompanied the Since 1995, the Baltic States have built their Tlargest enlargement in the history of the foreign and security policies upon three princi- European Union (EU) has faded away. The ten ples: Euroatlantic integration, regional coopera- new member states have now entered a difficult tion, and good relations with Russia and other period of adaptation to life inside the EU. They CIS countries. These principles bore fruit in may have formally adopted the myriad docu- 2004. Paradoxically, the Baltic States now face a ments of the acquis communautaire, but they still more complex agenda. While today the place of have to learn the unwritten rules by which the the Baltic States in Europe is assured, they have old members abide in the conference halls of yet to define their specific role within the EU in Brussels. Likewise the older members of the EU general and the Common Foreign and Security will need to exercise patience and tolerance until Policy (CFSP) in particular. EU and NATO the new Europeans, with their unfamiliar and membership were clear strategic landmarks that unpronounceable names, begin to start feeling drove the foreign and security policies of the comfortable at the table. Baltic States during the past decade. The new Out of the ten new member states, the three agenda will have no clear landmarks and will Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – extend over decades to come. stand out as the most remarkable success stories The objectives of this paper are twofold. of European reunification. Only ten years ago, Firstly, it will examine the changes, opportuni- Peter van Ham, the editor of the ‘The Baltic ties and challenges that the integration of the States: Security and Defence after Indepen- Baltic States into the EU brought to their for- dence’ (Chaillot Paper no.19, June 1995), con- eign and security policy, as well as the impact tended that ‘their role and place in Europe is their membership has had on the development uncertain’.1 Against all the odds, in only fifteen of the CFSP. It will suggest some alternatives years of independence the Baltic States man- that are available for Baltic decision makers to aged to transform themselves from former solve both imminent and long-term security Soviet republics with ruined economies and problems. Secondly, the paper seeks to address sovietized peoples into fully-fledged members several widespread myths about the policies of of the EU with galloping economic growth and the Baltic States. To the extent that there is any vibrant civil societies. With the accession of the cohesive discernible attitude towards the Baltic Baltic States to NATO, ‘the most challenging countries among the other EU members, view- part of the NATO enlargement puzzle’2 has also points often tend towards the negative: the been solved.
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